Episode II
Blackout at the Pokemon Center!

"Hold up a minute!"

Ash turns around and saw May sweating a bit and breathing heavy.

"You're walking too slow." He said.

"If I knew you run the whole way I wouldn't have offered my help!" May exclaimed, waving her arms around. Aria was catching up to them while she walked. She was surprised that they had gotten this far, but she knew he wouldn't be too far away from them.

"Stop it!"

The two tense up and looked over at Ash's older sister. Aria looks at Ash with tired eyes once she got a good look at the both of them.

"Look Ash, she offered to help us find our way to Oldale Town. So the best thing we can do is slow down just a bit. We'll be there before it gets late." She told him, rubbing her forehead in annoyance.

Ash sighs and looks over at Pikachu. "I guess."

Aria sighs and looks over at May who whispered thank you to her. Aria smiles and nods at her. She looks up at the sky and takes a deep breath.

This is just the morning, what's the afternoon going to be like?

A kid from pallet town with a brand new world to see

I don't know what's ahead but it won't get the best of me

There's so much to learn and battles to be won

I've advanced so far and still there's always more to come

Take a step and I'm on my way gonna start all over again

I want to be hero (hero!)

Pokemon advance

I wanna be a hero (hero!)

Give it just one chance

And the future will decide

If there's a hero buried deep inside

I wanna be a hero!

Pokemon!

"Poor Torchic." Aria said sadly. "Fire Types are weak to Water Types like Azurill."

May was attempting to catch her first Pokemon but it managed to get away and do a lot of damage onto her Torchic. May held her passed out Pokemon in her arms and looked down at it sadly.

"I feel terrible, what should I do?" She asked, looking up at the others.

"Don't worry May, we just need to take Torchic to the Pokemon Center and it will be good as new." Ash said.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

May started to run on ahead, making the other two run up and catch up to her as she leads the way once again.

"Hey, what's that up there?" Ash asked.

Aria and May looked ahead and noticed stone pillars sticking out of the ground. They come to a stop and looked around.

"It looks like it just might be a bunch of old buildings." May said.

"Well actually these are the ruins of Oldale." A voice said.

They noticed someone walk over to them and had short brown hair that looked exactly like Brock's.

"I'm Professor Alden and I'm here investigating them." He said.

"Hi, my name's Ash."

"And I'm Ash's older sister Aria." She added.

"My name is May."

"Nice to meet you." Alden greeted. "So tell me, where are going in such a hurry?" He asked.

"We're trying to find the Pokemon Center." Ash said.

"Oh, it's right over there, just down this hill." He said, pointing at the building below.

"Great thanks!" Aria thanked as they ran passed Alden and straight to the Pokemon Center.

When they reached the Pokemon Center May already went to go Nurse Joy while Ash and Aria gave a call to an old friend of theirs.

"Hey Professor Oak, we just made it to Oldale Town." Ash said.

"That's wonderful Ash, it's always nice to hear from you." Oak replied. "I see you found your sister. Hello Aria, it's great to see you after so long."

"It's only been a few weeks professor." She said. "But things have been great so far."

"That's great to here, well I hope you both have a safe and successful journey." He said.

"Thanks." The two siblings said at the same time.

After the phone call the three trainers went to get something to eat since they have been traveling for a very long time.

"This food is delicious!" May answered cheerfully.

"The Pokemon Center always has amazing food, all of this traveling has been getting me hungry." Ash said, taking another bite out of his food.

"You always say that about food Ash." Aria said, placing her hand to her forehead. "Brothers, what am I going to do with you."

Ash laughs as Pikachu took another bite out of the Pokemon food.

"The three weary travelers, glad you made it safely."

They looked over and noticed Professor Alden standing by their table holding a tray of food.

"Hi there." Ash greeted.

They offered him to sit with them and they had a small conversation about the ruins the professor was at. After they were done eating, they threw out their trash.

"I'll be there in a minute Ash. You two go on ahead." Aria said to them.

"Okay." Ash replied.

Ash and May were heading to the Professor's office since he was showing off the research he was doing on the ruins on top of the hill, but Aria got distracted by something she saw outside of the window.

"I did see something out there, didn't I?" She asked herself. "Maybe it's nothing."

Before Aria could leave, the lights went out and she nearly screamed.

"Wha-What's going on?" She asked aloud.

The whole Pokemon Center was having a blackout, even this late at night.

"I should go find Ash and May."

She walks down the hallway and saw Nurse Joy looking around using her flashlight to check the area.

"Nurse Joy?" She asked. "What happened to the lights?"

"I don't know, we must be having a blackout. I was just about to head to the professor to see if he knew anything about it." She answers.

Nurse Joy leads Aria through the hallways until they reach his office.

"Professor Alden, when the power went out..." Nurse Joy didn't get to finish her sentence once her and Aria noticed a few people dressed in red and black and had Houndooms with armor on them surrounding Ash, May, and Alden.

They gasped in shocked until someone grabbed them from behind.

"Let go of me!" Aria exclaimed, trying to escape the person's grasp.

"Well professor, would you like to change your mind?" One of them asked Alden.

Alden sighs, "Yes, alright, I'll go with you then."

The one that was talking to Alden looked over at the one who had Aria trapped. "Bring the girl with, just in case." He said.

"Let her go!" Ash shouted.

He was going to run past to help his sister, but the Houndooms only growled louder at him, which made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Let's go."

"Let go of me! Just what are you planning on doing?!" Aria exclaimed.

"What is this meaning of this? Why did you bring us here?!" The professor demanded.

"Why do you think?" One of the ones in red said. "We brought you so you can help us gain access to the stone chamber."

The professor gasped and looked at the door behind him. "It won't work. If we try to force our way in the chamber will collapse." He said.

The man held up a relic in his hands. "You said yourself the way in here is written on this little tablet. Isn't that right professor?"

"That's true but I also said that I need to have the four treasures as keys."

"Of course." He lowers the relic to his side and held out his hand to his crew. "The keys."

They then held out a small box with four small marbles inside that were four different colors.

"What! Where did you-"

"You see we have friends in high places. The only thing left to do is find out which key goes in which hole." The man said cutting him off. "And you will help us with that."

"I won't!" The professor rejected.

"Really? Then I guess you don't care about the fate of those poor people at the Pokemon Center, especially her."

One of them pushed Aria forward and she fell on her knees. She was going to run away until she felt something cold press against her neck which made her freeze up. A knife laid their, waiting on command to slit her throat.

"You wouldn't!" Alden exclaimed, worriedly.

"We would and will unless you obey. So, what will it be?"

Alden looked at Aria and saw the scared look in her eyes. "You win." He gave in.

Alden picks up the four keys and placed them in each spot the tablet and they waited until he got it done before they removed the knife away from Aria's neck. When the door glowed it moves out of the way and they all enter inside searching for something. They remove the knife and Aria was finally able to breathe, because she was holding her breath the whole time in terror.

Aria and Alden fall them inside as they noticed drawings on the wall.

"What is this place?" Aria asked.

"This place was used to keep all of its ancient Pokemon secrets a legend. These panels are ancient people and Pokemon living together." Alden replied.

The crew then spoke really quickly before pulling the two of them outside and throwing them on the ground. Aria was about to call out Houndoom but they were long gone in a helicopter.

"Professor! Aria!"

They turned around and noticed Ash and May running in their direction.

"Are you alright?" May asked.

"We're just fine." Alden said.

"Who were those guys anyway?" Ash asked, looking at the helicopter that was nearly out of his sight.

Before Aria could answer that question, she noticed some people standing behind a short rock holding the four treasure in their hands.

"Oh, it's seems like we been discovered."

They stood up and looked around the area.

"Team Rocket!" Ash shouted.

"Hey! You guys give back those treasures!" The professor demanded.

"Not a chance, Arbok, go!" Jessie commanded.

Aria looked down at the Poke Ball that she received from Professor Birch just a day ago. She had met and talked with the Pokemon before, but she wasn't sure if it would listen to her. Sure they spent some time together, but would it battle for her after everything its been through? She bit her lip and shook her head.

"You can do this. I believe in you. Come out!" She threw the Poke Ball and the Pokemon stood in front of her.

"Who's that Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"There's no time for that! Absol! Use Sucker Punch!" She commanded.

The Pokemon looked at her before looking back at the Arbok and charging right at it as it right paw glowed a dark color. Absol jumps into the air and slashes down at Arbok getting a direct him, sending Arbok flying back at Team Rocket. They ended up dropping the four treasure when Arbok hit them, which gave Ash a chance to attack.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu jumps off Ash's shoulder and launched the attack at them, sending Team Rocket flying.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They shouted as they were flying through the sky.

Professor Alden picks up the four treasures and turns to the others. "We got them back." He said.

They nodded as Absol walked back over to Aria with a smile on her face.

"You did well Absol, you're amazing when it comes to battling." She said, rubbing Absol's head.

"Absol? Is that what it's called?" Ash asked.

"Right, the professor gave it to me before we left the lab. I can explain later but shouldn't we return those to the chamber?" Aria suggests to them.

Alden agreed with her as he held up the treasures.

"Oh right. Let's go take care of that."

When they entered the chamber the sun was just starting to rise.

"The sun is up already?" May said shocked.

Where the treasures were placed, the door glowed as everything glowed a bright color.

"Whoa..." Aria said amazed.

The chamber door moved out of the way and revealed a staircase.

"What's this!?" Alden said shocked. "Well, let's take a look."

When they reached the bottom they were in an underground water cave and saw the stream below them.

"It smells so fresh and clean down here." May said.

"You're right." Ash replied.

"I wonder if it leads out to sea." Alden mumbled.

Something then jumped out of the water, making everyone gasp as they saw it before their own eyes as it landed back in the water.

"Was that what I think it was?" Aria asked.

"It was a Relicanth! It was an ancient Pokemon!" Alden exclaimed.

"Relicanth?" Ash said confused.

"Pika?"

"It's true, this place is a portal between the present and the past."

"May, you're Torchic is as good as new." Nurse Joy said.

"Oh great, thank you." She replied, handing her the Poke Ball. "Okay come on out."

"Torchic!" It stood beside her before jumping into her arms as May hugged it.

"Excuse me Nurse Joy." Ash asked. "Did you find anything about those crocks?"

"Officer Jenny is doing everything she can but so far no clue." She said.

Aria sighs and placed her hand to where her throat was. "They could have killed me if the professor didn't open the door. For the first time in my life I was actually terrified." She said.

"Hmm, well I guess our only option for now is to head to Petalburg City." Ash said.

"Ash!" They turned and noticed the professor walking towards them. "Leaving so soon?"

"Yeah." He replied.

"Guess what? I've been doing a little more research over at the ancient chamber and so far every indication pointed to ancient Pokemon and people interacting peacefully." He explains.

"Wow." Ash said amazed.

"That must be really important. Really amazing too!" Aria replied.

Alden nods. "I can hardly stop working, I can't even sleep." He said. "There are so many undiscovered secrets in the world of Pokemon."

Later on, the three trainers were walking through the forest, heading their way to Petalburg City for their first gym battle.

"We're going to our first gym battle in Hoenn, I'm so excited." Ash said.

"Me too. And this is going to be my first battle in a while since the Pokemon League." Aria said.

"I guess so..." May looked away, think about something before a smile appeared on her face.

Aria looked up at the sky before looking at her brother. "Remember the finals?" She asked.

"How could I forget that? Your Pokemon did all of the work." He said.

She nods and looks at the trail they were taking.